The boards of Victoria’s 19 water corporations will be overhauled as part of a review of the state’s water industry.
The Victorian State Government has announced that all 135 board positions will be spilled and go through an expression of interest process.
Sixty-five of the positions were already set to be reviewed in September, however others weren’t expected to change until 2017. All current board members have been encouraged to participate in the expressions of interest process.
The new boards are expected to be in place by October 2015.
Victorian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, Lisa Neville, has thanked the boards of each corporation for their contributions to date and said the review was intended to ensure the water corporations have the best people with the right skills to deal with the environmental and economic challenges of the future.
“Preserving the future of our water supplies requires a new vision and that calls for a fresh and balanced approach, starting at the top,” she said.
“Victoria needs diverse and highly skilled people to deal with the environmental and economic challenges of the future – climate change, rainfall variability and rapid population growth.”
The current Victorian Government, which came into power in December 2014, has already made a number of changes to water policy in the state, including:
- Abolishing the Office of Living Victoria and transitioning to a collaborative approach
- Requiring water authorities to ensure they face the challenges of climate change including rainfall patterns
- Considering all sources of water including the Wonthaggi desalination plant, which can provide 150 gigalitres of water
- Investigating the water needs and priorities of local communities.
